


Happy to Be Home

by whatdoyoucallafemaletimelord



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2816099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatdoyoucallafemaletimelord/pseuds/whatdoyoucallafemaletimelord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loosely inspired by the prompt: Imagine person A of your OTP coming home from a long, hard day at work and being presented with a tray of cupcakes person B made for them while they were out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy to Be Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thefaultinourangels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefaultinourangels/gifts).



> It wouldn't be Christmas without Malec. Enjoy, babe.

As he mounted the stairs of his building, Alec let out an exasperated sigh. He held onto the railing for support while he stood still a moment catching his breath. He wasn't as energetic as he had been when he was eighteen, and there were some things that even a stamina rune couldn't make up for. Age was one of them.

Alec stared at the door at the end of the hallway. It seemed impossibly far away. His only hope was that he could make it inside the apartment before collapsing.

Exhaling slowly, Alec pushed off from the railing and hobbled down the hall. Once there it took him a full minute to dig his keys out from the bottom of one of his many pockets and then another thirty seconds to find the right one and put it in the lock, turn it, and finally let himself in.

Almost immediately he was attacked by a small boy of five. "Daddy!" the child screeched happily. Alec could only assume his eyes must have gone wide as his son latched himself onto his legs, nearly knocking him over in the process.

"Hey, Max. Hey, buddy. How was your day?"

"Great! Me and Dad baked Christmas cookies and decorated them and everything!"

"Is that right?" Alec asked, looking toward Magnus who was a few feet away in the kitchen. He was wearing a festive apron and smiling at his boys.

"It's true. And all without magic, too."

"Mmhmm."

"Now let Daddy come in and get settled, okay?"

Max released Alec's legs but grabbed at his hand, jumping up and down as he spoke. "Come and see our cookies Daddy!"

"I will, I promise, in a minute." Alec told him. "I'll be right in."

"Okay, in a minute Daddy!" Max ran into the dining room to eagerly wait for Alec.

Alec looked up and caught Magnus staring at him. He laughed on the exhale of a breath and took a half-step forward so he could swing the door shut behind him. Magnus simultaneously strode over and grabbed Alec by the waist and crashed their lips together.

Alec groaned slightly in pain but hoped Magnus would ignore it. Kissing his husband was more important to him at the moment than comfort was. But as he tried to lean into Magnus, he inadvertently groaned again and Magnus pulled back. His cat eyes shone and a small smile played on his lips as he watched Alec try to catch his breath.

"I feel so old," Alec panted. He let out a weak chuckle. He coughed. "By the Angel."

Magnus dismissed this with a wave of his hand. "Oh please. You're not a day over 30, Alexander Bane."

Alec rolled his eyes and began to protest when from the other room came a cry of, "Daddy! It's been over a minute."

"I'll take this one," Magnus said, placing his hand on Alec's chest to prevent him from moving. "You go and get comfortable." He turned and walked off in the direction of the dining room.

"Dad?"

"Daddy will be in soon, Maxwell. He's going to change out of his gear. He had a long day so he's probably going to need lots of cookies..."

Their voices faded out as Alec slowly limped down the hall to his bedroom. He pulled a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt out of one of his dresser drawers then made his way into the adjoining bathroom. He sat down on the edge of the tub and peeled off his mud-splattered boots and sweaty socks and tossed them into the corner of the room. He then shrugged out of his leather vest and pulled his shirt over his head before getting to his feet once more. He unbuckled his pants and let them drop to the floor. Deciding he should probably take a shower too while he was at it, Alec removed his boxer briefs and stepped into the tub. 

The warm water soothed the ache in his muscles—if only temporarily—and Alec wished he could stay there for the rest of the night then go straight to bed, but he had promised his son. He shut off the water abruptly, knowing that otherwise he would allow himself to linger, then toweled off and got dressed.

In the dining room he found them sitting at the table, waiting for him. Magnus had his chin propped up with one hand and was gazing at Max, smiling softly. Max sat at the head of the table, swinging his little legs back and forth since his feet couldn't touch the floor. He stopped suddenly in the middle of a sentence when Alec came into the room. "Look, Daddy. Look at our cookies!" he said delightedly. 

"I see them. They're quite lovely."

"I want you to taste this one!" Max held out a cookie shaped like a Christmas tree sloppily covered with green icing and rainbow colored sprinkles. "It's my favorite."

Alec made a show of taking a huge bite and humming his approval. "Mm, excellent."

"This one too," Max said, handing him a gingerbread man-shaped cookie. This one had clearly been iced by Magnus-the white icing neatly covered the whole of the cookie, unlike that of the Christmas tree. Max had attempted to give it a face with chocolate sprinkles but one eye was significantly larger than the other, and its mouth was more a crooked line than a smile. Alec ate it nonetheless.

"Very well done, Max."

"Here, this one," Max gave him another Christmas tree. "And this." He picked up a snowman shaped cookie. "And this one-"

"Max, Max-" Magnus stopped him from grabbing all of the cookies and shoving them toward Alec.

"But you said-"

"I know, I know. But there is such a thing as too much."

"I'll save these ones for breakfast tomorrow, okay?" Alec said with a mouthful of cookie.

"All right," Max said, slightly disappointed.

Having swallowed, Alec said, "Just so you know, I can't wait until the morning when I can have these. Huh?" He walked over to his son and tickled his sides.

"Daddy, stop!" Max giggled as Alec tickled him more. "Stop it! Daddy!"

"Okay, all right." Alec scooped him up and held him at his waist. "Whoa, you're getting pretty heavy there." Alec bounced him lightly. "Pretty soon I won't even be able to lift you anymore!"

Max only giggled more. Magnus, who had been sitting to the side quietly, spoke up. "Isn't it past your bedtime, Maxwell?"

Max whined in protest. "Dad—"

"We had a deal. You could stay up until Daddy got home, then it was off to bed."

Frowning as Alec set him down on the floor, Max said, "I know." He turned to Alec. "Night, Daddy."

"Get changed into your pajamas, I'll come in and tuck you in in a few minutes!" Magnus called after him as he ran off down the hall. He was so full of energy, always running everywhere. In a few years it'd be hard for his parents to keep up with him. It already was.

Alec gave Magnus a look of slight wonder. "Since when do you volunteer for such things, when it isn't even your turn?" he asked.

Magnus shrugged. "You've had a long day." 

"That I have." Alec sat in Max's abandoned chair and laid his head down on the table. Magnus reached over and ran a hand through Alec's long black locks. His hair needed trimmed but Magnus liked when he let it grow out, so he put off cutting it. He was also in need of a shave, but was too lazy to do anything about it.

"Go to bed, darling. You deserve sleep."

Alec sighed and closed his eyes. "Will you carry me there?"

"Well now you're just asking too much."

Alec opened his eyes and picked up his head. "Asshole," he said with a laugh.

Magnus leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips. "But you love me."

Alec only shook his head. He pushed his chair back from the table and stood. He put his hand on Magnus's shoulder as he walked past him toward their bedroom. Magnus sat staring at the poorly decorated cookies on the table in front of him for a minute or so before he stood as well. Then he pushed in his chair and turned off the light on his way out of the room.


End file.
